One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to figure out when it's possible to plant thyme by using the USDA zone info for Howell.

Planting Calendar for Thyme

Frost tolerance for thyme:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since thyme do well in cold you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant thyme in Howell is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant thyme and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your thyme may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your thyme indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Howell. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Howell is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Howell last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your thyme if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Howell

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Howell

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Howell.